The present invention relates generally to radiation therapy. More particularly, the present invention relates to hyperthermia assisted radiation therapy.
Lung cancer is the most common fatal cancer in the United States for men aged 40 years and older and women aged 60 years and older. Inoperable lung tumors are primarily treated using radiation therapy. Recent studies in radiation therapy of lung tumors have shown that higher radiation dose delivered to the target has been associated with improved tumor control. However, a major therapeutic concern is represented by tumor hypoxia where hypoxic cells require three times more dose than a well oxygenated cell to achieve the same level of cell deaths. When cells gradually become hypoxic they adapt by up-regulating the production of numerous proteins that promote their self-survival. These proteins slow the rate of growth, stimulate growth of new vasculature, inhibit apoptosis, and promote metastatic spread. The direct consequence of these changes is that patients with hypoxic tumors invariably experience poor outcome to treatment, hypoxia also being the primary inhibitor of chemotherapy effectiveness.